Kimberly Bost

Kimberly Bost (Democratic Party) ran for election to the North Carolina State Senate to represent District 45. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Bost completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Kimberly Bost was born in Toms River, New Jersey. She earned an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1989 and a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware in 1990. Bost's career experience includes working as an artist and hosiery designer.^[1]^[2]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 45

Mark Hollo defeated Kimberly Bost in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 45 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Hollo (R)	70.3	80,033
	Kimberly Bost (D)	29.7	33,840

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 113,873
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kimberly Bost advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 45.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 45

Mark Hollo defeated Nancy Meek in the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 45 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Hollo	60.4	16,390
	Submit photo	Nancy Meek	39.6	10,746

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,136
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bost in this election.

2020

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Incumbent Jay Adams defeated Kimberly Bost in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jay Adams (R)	63.0	25,370
	Kimberly Bost (D)	37.0	14,929

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,299
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kimberly Bost advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jay Adams advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96.

Campaign finance

2018

See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Incumbent Jay Adams defeated Kimberly Bost in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96 on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jay Adams (R)	60.7	16,285
	Kimberly Bost (D)	39.3	10,527

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,812
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Kimberly Bost advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Kimberly Bost

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Incumbent Jay Adams defeated Taylor Huffman in the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96 on May 8, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jay Adams	69.7	6,013
	Taylor Huffman	30.3	2,615

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 8,628
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Kimberly Bost completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bost's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a 25 year resident of Hickory. I moved to Catawba County as a designer with the hosiery industry in the late 90s, and have witnessed the changing landscape of our industry and workforce. I am an artist and I manage the farmers market here, but my favorite role is mom to my son Connor, who is currently a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am active in my community and feel that we have a very special part of this state that needs enthusiastic and creative representation.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

All people in the 45th District deserve a voice and to be represented by their elected official. I will represent and listen to every person, no matter their background or political affiliation. We have more in common than what sets us apart. We need transparency in government, and for every citizen in the 45th District to have a voice about things that affect them, and what happens in our district.
I am committed to ensuring that our public education system is fully funded and given the attention it deserves. By investing in our schools and prioritizing teacher pay, we can provide the next generation with the tools they need to succeed. A strong public education system is the bedrock of a thriving community and is an important factor in attracting companies to make our state their headquarters, bringing quality jobs to our area.
Protecting personal freedoms is important to me, and is a cornerstone of our democracy. I believe that each individual should have agency over their own body. Women's reproductive rights are under attack, and it is crucial that we stand strong in defending the rights of all individuals to make decisions about their own healthcare. I will fight tirelessly to ensure that every person in this district has the freedom and autonomy they deserve.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Protecting and fortifying our public education system, guarding and expanding our personal freedoms, preserving our beautiful lands and taking care of our veterans.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Heather Cox Richardson's Letters From An American

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, open minded-ness, care and respect for constituents of all points of view. A desire to be a clear voice for your community. I have positions on things, but I would listen and consider perspectives different from my own. We have become so divided as a nation. I feel we can come together in our smaller communities where we actually know and care about each other.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am a good listener, and I care about people. I can build bridges. I love my community, and our state.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To listen to hear and advocate for the needs, best interest and development of the district and the state.

What legacy would you like to leave?

To make things better for people than when I came. To help North Carolina to move back in a direction that my child and his generation will be proud of.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature is one where they can each have things they want to fight for that they feel will benefit the electorate and the greater good of the state. They can disagree and come together to compromise and hammer out a plan that will move our state forward and make life better for our citizens.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Our state's biggest challenges over the next decade:

Coming together across the deep political divide. Restoring and enhancing our public education system to uphold our constitutional promise. Retaining and attracting good teachers for our young people.

Mitigating environmental disasters, cleaning up deadly man-made ones, and preserving the natural beauty of our gorgeous state.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

No! I think we need fresh, creative perspectives! Politicians have a bad reputation thanks to the ones who take advantage of their position. We need more everyday people serving in our government, and fewer career politicians.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes! It is essential to work together to find common ground to move agendas forward and pass legislation that makes life better for North Carolinians. That is the job of the legislature, and what the taxpayers pay for.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

I would want to follow in the model of Graig Meyer, Deb Butler, Marcia Morey, Sydney Batch, Jeff Jackson - to name a few - all members who are passionate about serving the people of this state, are actively involved and communicating with their constituency and working hard to solve problems and move our state forward.

What committees interest you?

Education/Higher Education Committee and Appropriations of same

Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee Redistricting and Elections Committee

Senate Appropriations on Health and Human Services Committee

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Representatives must hold regular meetings with constituents and their dealings on behalf of the voters should be public record. There should be no reason to make things unavailable as the Republican Supermajority recently did in proposing a provision in the budget that would allow state legislators to exempt themselves from North Carolina's public records disclosures, laws meant to safeguard transparency, even after they leave office. This is simply unacceptable as it would enable the General Assembly to conduct much of the public's work in secret.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Kimberly Bost completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bost's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am an artist, a mother and a concerned citizen. I love my community, and think the people we've elected to represent us in Raleigh can be making better decisions for us. For all of us.

I have a child in his freshman year of high school. I want him to have a bright future in North Carolina. When I was growing up, my father ran a Presbyterian Camp. I learned, and we lived the simple values that you treat others the way they want to be treated, and you care for the least of these among us. You don't hear much about these values in politics these days, but I believe they should be our guiding lights. When we all do better, we all do better. I run our city's Farmers' Market where I get to work with and interact with local farmers and our district's citizens all the time. I also do freelance design work for our state's textile industry, having moved here with the hosiery industry in the nineties. I believe that a strong public education is the cure to all that ails us. That healthcare is a basic human right, and that a community with these things will also have well paying, fulfilling work for its people.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I will focus on excellence in public education and treating our teachers well. Strong public education is the foundation for a thriving community.
I will work to get everyone easy access to affordable health care.
I will help create jobs and retool our region's industry to compete and succeed in the 21st century.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Ensuring all citizens' dignity by giving them the tools to live a happy life. Our state constitution requires every child receive a good public education. Strong public education makes a smarter, healthier and more innovative community. Good jobs, healthy populate and opportunity arrive when this is in place.

That people lose everything or die in this state because of medical bills is cruel and unnecessary. We can take easy steps to improve this by accepting the money we are already paying into the federal system in the medicaid expansion. We will still have a lot of work to do, but this simple act will save many, and create much needed good jobs.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Michelle Obama! Love her. She has class and is unapologetically herself. What a strong, fantastic human.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I think an elected official needs to be open minded and a good listener. She needs to represent the entire electorate. She may have her personal and party views, but considerations and decisions need to represent what is best for all the citizens.

The elected official should not have personal interests in the decisions being made, and if they do, know how to separate themselves from the decision.
The official must understand and care about their entire community. Not just the ones he relates to, or who vote for him.
Listen, be accessible and be a true representative of the people of your district.

We all want the same things. We just come at them in different ways.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am a good listener. I care about people. I can talk about difficult topics with people I don't agree with.
I like finding common ground, and win-win solutions to difficult challenges.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To be accessible and listen. Then act in the best interest of your constituents and community.

What legacy would you like to leave?

That I helped make our state a better place for my son to live and thrive.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I think the first big thing I remember was when Elvis died. I was eight years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at the Presbyterian Camp my father directed. I ran the canteen, at twelve years old. Ordered the merchandise, tracked inventory and handled the money.
I did this for two summers before I got my WSI (water safety instructor ) certification and became a lifeguard.

What is your favorite book? Why?

I loved the Harry Potter series. If I had to pick one, Book 5, Order of the Phoenix. The whole series was truly magical.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Katniss Everdeen. Rey.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Raining on Sunday" by Radney Foster

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

No. I think we need a fresh crop of the people, by the people, for the people. It has become a career that regular people can't afford or don't want to do. We need real people serving us. Not career politicians.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Overcoming gerrymandering, and the damaging repercussions. All North Carolinians do not have a voice right now, and decisions are being made by the minority party that is in control for their own best interests, and not in the best interest of all North Carolinians.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

One of active open communication and constructive compromise, for the best interest of the people..

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes. I think the more you can see each other as people, and understand each others' point of view, the better legislation will result.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I would be interested in working on education, health care, the environment... there are so many opportunities! I would work wherever I was needed. I am passionate about so many issues our state faces!

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Deborah Butler!!! Even before she became an international celebrity.
Graig Meyer. Marcia Morgan. My friends, Ashton Clemmons, Sydney Batch, Rachel Hunt, Christy Clark, Julie von Haefen. Ray Russel.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

One step at a time.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

A man whose daughter is struggling with opioid addiction. A woman who lost her daughter to opioids. And I have heard more than these. It is a heartbreaking problem here in the 96th.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Kimberly Bost campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	North Carolina State Senate District 45	Lost general	$2,994	$2,490
2020	North Carolina House of Representatives District 96	Lost general	$50,236	N/A**
Grand total			$53,230	$2,490
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

External links

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Candidate

North Carolina State Senate District 45

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 21, 2020
↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 8, 2024

[show]

Current members of the North Carolina State Senate

Leadership

Minority Leader:Sydney Batch

Senators

District 1

Robert Hanig (R)

District 2

Norman Sanderson (R)

District 3

Bob Brinson (R)

District 4

Eldon Newton (R)

District 5

Kandie Smith (D)

District 6

Michael Lazzara (R)

District 7

Michael Lee (R)

District 8

William Rabon (R)

District 9

Brent Jackson (R)

District 10

Benton Sawrey (R)

District 11

Lisa Barnes (R)

District 12

Jim Burgin (R)

District 13

Lisa Grafstein (D)

District 14

Dan Blue (D)

District 15

Jay Chaudhuri (D)

District 16

Gale Adcock (D)

District 17

Sydney Batch (D)

District 18

Terence Everitt (D)

District 19

Val Applewhite (D)

District 20

Natalie Murdock (D)

District 21

Tom McInnis (R)

District 22

Sophia Chitlik (D)

District 23

Graig Meyer (D)

District 24

Danny Britt (R)

District 25

Amy Galey (R)

District 26

Phil Berger (R)

District 27

Michael Garrett (D)

District 28

Gladys Robinson (D)

District 29

Dave Craven (R)

District 30

Steven Jarvis (R)

District 31

Dana Jones (R)

District 32

Paul Lowe (D)

District 33

Carl Ford (R)

District 34

Chris Measmer (R)

District 35

Todd Johnson (R)

District 36

Eddie Settle (R)

District 37

Vickie Sawyer (R)

District 38

Mujtaba Mohammed (D)

District 39

DeAndrea Salvador (D)

District 40

Joyce Waddell (D)

District 41

Caleb Theodros (D)

District 42

Woodson Bradley (D)

District 43

Brad Overcash (R)

District 44

Ted Alexander (R)

District 45

Mark Hollo (R)

District 46

Warren Daniel (R)

District 47

Ralph Hise (R)

District 48

Timothy Moffitt (R)

District 49

Julie Mayfield (D)

District 50

Kevin Corbin (R)

Republican Party (30)

Democratic Party (20)

[bio-1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 21, 2020

[2] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 8, 2024

[1]

[2]

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Kimberly Bost

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 45

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 45

Campaign finance

Endorsements

2020

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Democratic primary election

Republican primary election

Campaign finance

2018

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 96

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

2020

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

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